Welcome to the Family
by cuethepulse-old
Summary: James is back home with the intention of calling off his engagement and giving his parents the biggest surprise of their lives. James x Butch slash, and will also include femmeslash. Rating will go up. Part One of Four up.


Title: Welcome to the Family  
Disclaimer: Pokemon and its characters do not belong to me.

Part One: Meeting the Parents

James used to think that there was one good thing about having his engagement arranged, and that was that he didn't have freak over introducing any of his dates to his parents. Granted, he didn't have many dates. But if he _had_, he wouldn't have had to worry about what his parents thought. In their mind, he'd been set for life. And after living for so long with that impression, he had started to think that way, too.

But that was before Butch.

"Would you stop looking like you're headed for the gallows already? I never knew you were so pessimistic."

James glowered at him, hands gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.

"Oh, he's just nervous because his parent's are insane," Jessie said, filing her nails as she stretched out in the back.

"Real nut jobs," Meowth piped up, earning an exasperated sigh from the blue-haired man driving the car.

"They sound like a trip," Butch smirked, not unkindly.

"They're just—different," James groaned, as he noticed that the main gate was coming up. "Promise me you guys won't give them a hard time! They aren't used to distinguished lowlifes like us!"

"Lowlifes?" Meowth looked at Jessie, expecting a violent reaction.

"Hm." She shrugged. "_Distinguished_."

"Hey, don't worry." Butch threw James a grin. "I'll be on my best behavior."

James, not even slightly reassured, resigned himself to his unfortunate fate and pulled into the long driveway that led to his parents' estate.

-

"Lonely domestics' gratuitous sex phone line, how may I pleasure you?"

Casting one more glance into the hallway to make sure his master and mistress weren't close by, Hopkins slid the door to his room shut, cleared his throat, and asked, "What are you wearing?"

It couldn't be helped, really. It was so hard to meet people, being a butler. The only woman he saw on a regular basis was his mistress, and, well… He needed some excitement in his life. It was perfectly understandable.

The sultry purr on the other end of the phone was increasing his heart rate at a dangerous speed. The sweat had just begun to break out on his brow when he heard the faint sound of his mistress calling, "Hopkins! What _are_ you waiting for? Answer the door!"

Hopkins slammed the phone down hastily with a soft curse, adjusted his trouser, and took out a handkerchief to wipe at his face on his way to the front door.

"Master James has arrived!"

"Master, huh?" Butch snickered, elbowing his blue-haired companion as the group was allowed into the grand mansion.

"Please, don't…" James sighed and reluctantly looked up at the staircase where his parents were making their entrance.

"Why, James," his mother drawled, with a hint of a smile hidden properly behind her fan. "My, you've grown."

"Yes," his father agreed. "Though I do wish you would've worn your suit."

"Told ya we should've made him wear it," Meowth whispered to Jessie, who nodded knowingly.

"Mother, Father," James greeted them formally, bowing at the shoulders, trying hard to keep from gritting his teeth in distaste. How he loathed belonging to the upper-crust society. He remembered with wistful fondness his visit to meet Butch's parents; the way they embraced each other was the warm family gesture he'd only been able to experience with his Nana and Pop-Pop, and only when his parents weren't around. "You remember my friends, Jessie and Meowth."

"Oh, yes," his mother tittered. "The talking Pokemon and the…lovely young lady. I see you left behind those 'invisible disguises' of yours. Too bad, I found them quite _charming_."

"Oh, I'm sure," Jessie replied, faking a good-natured smile.

James jumped a bit when he was elbowed again and groaned inwardly.

"And this is my…co-worker, Butch."

"Pleased to meet you," Butch managed to recall from the one lesson in etiquette he ever took—which he wasn't sure counted, because his teacher was his uncle who was often drunk—despite the tinge of disappointment he felt at being introduced as a co-worker.

"What a strapping lad," James' father remarked.

"And so polite," his mother complimented, sounding pleased.

Butch found that, while he often doubted how he came across to the rest of the world, he tended to always make good impressions on his boyfriends' parents. That is, until they find out he's been in their sons' pants.

But he had high hopes about this time. After all, he hadn't been in James' pants just yet.

-

Hopkins was a very observant butler, and always had been. He knew that James was going to run away before he probably did himself. He didn't say anything, though, because he also knew that his young master hated his home. And while he highly respected his master and mistress, he was very fond of their son and didn't want him to be unhappy.

And it seemed like, if Hopkins' intuition was right, young master James was far from being unhappy.

As he was pouring tea, the master and mistress were making small talk about the new pure-breed ponytas they'd bought for their recently renovated stables, and he noticed the way young master James was sitting, so that his knee bumped, unassumingly but purposefully, against Butch's. To anyone else, it would seem to be an innocent accident, but Hopkins knew better.

He could hardly wait to see how the master and mistress would react when they found out. And he thought his life was getting _boring_.

-

"You're doing this just to torture me, aren't ya?"

"Don't be silly, Meowth," James laughed. "I'm doing this because it's the only place on this whole estate where I can be genuinely happy."

Meowth groaned.

"Well, geez, when ya put it that way… But I still don't like it."

Noting the discomfort of his feline companion, but not really putting it into account, James flung open the doors of the large doghouse, calling out a gleeful and impassioned, "Growlie, I'm home!"

Meowth tensed at the sound of nails scratching against the floor as the growlithe raced across the room to jump into his owner's arms, knocking James onto the ground and barking happily before proceeding to lick and slobber all over his face. Meowth cringed. He hated dogs.

Once inside, Meowth made sure to sit at a safe distance while watching James scratch and stroke Growlie affectionately behind the ears. His eyes narrowed uneasily. Dogs worried him and he also couldn't help but feel a little jealous. No matter what their history was, James was still _his _human.

"Now, Growlie," James started, "I'm here for a very important reason this time. I'm…formally breaking off my engagement to Jezebel."

Growlithe barked and James looked at Meowth for translation.

"He says, 'it's about time'."

James chuckled.

"Yes, I know. But, I…" He paused, unsure of how to continue. "I've found someone."

Growlithe brightened even more, if possible, and delivered a pleased lick to the palm of his hand. James smiled, but was still anxious about the next part.

"This person is, uh, very special to me. I think…they're going to make me, well, fairly happy."

Meowth snorted.

"And, uh, you see, this person is—his name is—is Butch."

Growlithe tilted his head.

"He's, um, a man."

Growlithe blinked.

"Is—is that okay?"

Meowth rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe James was asking for approval from a _dog_. Growlithe barked and James' gaze turned to Meowth, expectantly.

"He says he's very happy for you, and he wants to know if you'll play fetch with him before you leave."

-

Butch leaned against the railing of the bridge, idly dropping fish food into the pond below and watching the magikarp swim up to feed.

"What are you looking so upset for?" Jessie asked, sounding slightly irritable. "You barely stepped foot in the place and they already like you better than me."

"That isn't saying much…"

"Hey, hey, watch it," she warned, pinching at his ear. "Just because you're James' boyfriend, doesn't mean I can't slap you silly."

"All right, all right," he relented, swatting her hand away. "He called me a 'co-worker'. A co-worker. At least you and Meowth are his 'friends'. I can't even get that much. I'm just a co-worker."

"Oh, get over it." Jessie leaned her back against the railing and moved to rest her head on Butch's shoulder, reassuringly. "He just got nervous. He doesn't want to drop the bomb on them right away."

"I know, but—"

"Not 'buts'. James is crazy about you. He'll have to tell them eventually."

"So what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Just be quiet and suck it up."

-

"Now, look at that."

James' father looked up to where his wife was motioning—not pointing, of course, because that wasn't polite. He saw James' redhead friend cuddled up against Butch, the polite co-worker.

"Yes, I see."

"The girl leaves a little to be desired, but they look like a nice couple."

"They do, precious. Just like you and I."

After a pause of consideration, she turned to look at him, eyebrow arched.

"Oh?"

He expertly averted his eyes, focused on the open newspaper in his hands.

"Oh, well, not _just _like you and I, of course, my dear."

"Mm-hmm."


End file.
